Wool-drier



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

W.' WHITE. WOOL DRIER.-

Patented July 31 1894.

lili.

JINo. wAsHmToN c c v -2A Sheets-Sheet 2. W. WHITE. WOOL DRIBR (NoModel.)

N0. 523,875. Patented July 31,1894.

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UNITED STATES PATENT IIEICE.;A

WILLIAM WHITE, OF NASHUA, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

WOOL-Dalen.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 523,875, dated uly31,1894.

Appiimion ne@ nach s, 1894. serai No. 502,905. (No man.)

To all whom it may concern.:V

Be it known that I, WILLIAM WHITE, a citi-` .zen of the United States,residing at Nashua, 1n the county of Hillsborough and State of NewHampshire, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inWool-Driers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates tovimprovements in drying machines and Lhas moreespecially to do with apparatus for drying wool and the' Inventionconsists in certain novel construc tion, combinations and arrangement ofparts as will be hereinafter described and claimed.

The invention is set 'forth in the following specification andillustrated in the accompanying drawings,`in which' latter- Figure 1.represents a centralvertical section of the devices embodying myinvention. Fig. 2. represents a top plan view of the same, the outercasing being partially broken away to expose the wire belt or apronwithin. Fig. 3. represents a central vertical section through the shaftand pulleys which support and operate one of lthe endless wire belts.Fig. 4. represents a detail side elevation of one of the sprocket wheelswhich operate the sprocket chains carrying the endless wire belts. Fig.5. represents 'a side elevationV of one of the wire belt supportingwheels showing its notched periphery for receiving the supporting barsof the wire belt,`and Figj.- represents a detail perspective View of oneof the chain links, a portion of the wire belt tml the belt supportingbar attached to said A in the drawings represents the-casing of thedrying chamber which contains the endless traveling wire aprons B whichconvey the wet or damp wool back and forth through said drying chamberand thereby repeatedly bring said wool in contact with the hot air insaid drying chamber whereby it is thoroughly dried. 1

The wire belts or aprons VB are each composed of an endless open workwire belt which is supported on cross barsb having their'ends attachedto brackets c of the links C which form part of the sprocket chains oneach side vof the aprons. These sprocket chains are endless and passover sprocket wheels D mounted on shafts d in each endofthe dryingchamber. The chains are composed of links similar to C and otherssimilar in all respects except that the brackets c are omitted. Thelinks C are placed about every twelve inches in the chain as it is onlynecessary to have the cross su pporting bars b at that distance apart.The ends of the cross bars b are placed on the brackets c 0f the linksC, and the belt B and said bracket and cross bar are all 'securedtogether by attaching plate e and securing bolts e. It will thus be seenthat the wire belts are supported every twelve inches by the cross barsb and thus kept from sagging, and the belt when it reaches the spocketwheels may bend and/pass about them on their pitch line as the peculiarformation of the bracket c with its step connection with the link C, sosupport thebelts that they are flush with the tops of the links andarethus capable of this action. The shafts'd also carry wheels D which areprovided with notches d2 into which the bars b tit as the wire beltspass about said wheels. These wheels are intended to support the centerof the belt as it makes the turn and to keep it from twisting in makingsaid turn. The shafts d at the forward end ofthe machine are eachprovided with a gear vwheel which is engaged and operated by a worm f ona vertical power shaft. The center of the sprocket chains are supportedon each side by wheels or rollers F upon which they rest. A

A partitionv (Ji-divides the drying chamber into` two compartments-1 and2 and is provided withlhorizontal apertures g through which the endlessaprons pass. The aper tures are closed by eXible strips or aprons gwhich rest lightly on the aprons B and thus keep the heat from passingtoo freely from one chamber to the other butat the same time allow thewool on said aprons B tov readily pass them.

The heating device as shown' in Fig. 2 consists of an auxiliary chamberIplaced beside the main chamber` A andprovided-with a steam heating coilI and a blower I2 by which the heated air in said chamber I is forcedthrough an aperture Il into the main chamber. The moisture laden air isdrawn from the IOO main chamber through an aperture j by a suctionblower J. Both of the blowers are operated from the main source ofpower.

The beltsB are so placed that the wool falling from one belt will becaught on the end of the belt immediately beneath it.

The wool is fed into the chamber and onto the top belt by a spur belt Kwhich passes' about a belt wheel lc. It is then carried the length ofthe said chamber and dropped upon the next belt and so on until itreaches the bottom belt from which it is dropped onto a discharge spurbelt L similar to the `belt K and supported by a belt wheel Z; saiddischarging belt conveying the dried wool from the chamber and to anyconvenient receptacle outside of the same.

It will be seen from the foregoing that when the heated air is forcedinto compartment l of the chamber A, it cannot pass the partition G intothe compartment 2 until a sufcient pressurey is reached, when the airwill force its way beneath the liexible flaps and be drawn out throughthe suction opening j.

The peculiar formation of the open work wire aprons permits the heatedair to pass freely through said aprons and the wool carried thereby andsaid heated air thus takes up or absorbs the moisture in said wool andcarries it from the chamber, the partition G preventing the air fromescaping until it is fully laden with moisture at which time it isallowed to freely pass out.

The belts or aprons are so operated that every other one travels in anopposite direction and thereby the Wool is carried back and forth fromend to end of the chamber.

By my invention the wool is thoroughly dried after it has passed throughthe drying chamber as the partition that divides said chamber keeps thehot air in actual contact with said wool all the time and the peculiarformation of the wire belts permits the hot air to pass through the woolas well as over and under it. y t

It will be observed that the supporting wheels D are so placed on theaxle between the sprocket wheels as to keep the wire belt 'from saggingin the middle and keep it well up to the pitch line of the sprocketWheels. The brackets which support the wire belt supporting barsare so'placed it will be noted that the belt is caused to travel on the pitchline of the sprocket wheels. If the belt did not travel on the pitchline of the sprocket wheels it would travel either faster or sloweraccording to whether it was below or above the pitch line and thereforethe supporting wheels which are on the pitch line of the sprocketwheels, could not be used.

What I claim as my invention is- 1. In a drying apparatus, thecombination of an inclosig chamber having two commusaid compartmentsprovided with slits or apertures, flexible liaps covering saidapertures, a series of endless reticulated conveylng aprons providedwith supportingbars on thelr under sides and operating in saidcompartments in opposite directions and passing through said slits orapertures beneath the said flexible flaps, shafts carrying sprocketwheels for operating said aprons, supporting wheels carried by saidshafts and provided with notches for receiving the supporting bars ofthe aprons so as to allow said aprons to rest directly upon theperipheries of sald wheels, a heating device discharging into onecompartment and a suction blower located 1 n the other compartment fordrawing the air from the same; the air in the first compartment beingkept under pressure and compelled by the flexible flaps to come incontact with the contents of the aprons and means for operating theaprons, substantially as described.

2. In a drying apparatus, the combination with a casing of an endless,reticulated, movable drying apron provided on its under side withsupporting cross bars, a sprocket llnk attached to each end of each bar,outside the apron, sprocket chains connecting said links, shaftscarrying sprocket wheels adapted to receive and actuate said chains,apron supporting wheels mounted on said shafts and provided with notcheswhich are adapted to receive said supporting bars and thereby permit theapron to rest directly upon the peripheries of said supporting wheelsand means for operating the apron, substantially as described. y

3. In a drying apparatus, the combination with an inclcsing casing of anendless reticulated, movable drying apron provided on its under sidewith supporting bars, operating sprocket chains, the connecting links ofwhich, at the ends of the bars are provided with depressed attachingbrackets in which the ends of the bars are seated and secured so thatthe upper surface of the apron will be on the pitch line of the sprocketwheels, a shaft carrying sprocket wheels adapted to receive and actuatesaid chains, apron supporting wheels mounted on said shaft and providedwith notches which are adapted to receive said supporting bars andthereby permit the apron to. rest directly upon the periphery of saidsupporting wheels and means for operating the apron substantially asdescribed. p

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

WILLIAM WHITE.

Witnesses:

R. T. SMITH, JOSEPH L. CLOUGH.

`nicating compartments, a partition between IOO IIO

